Part one of a series of post on the loss of my rabbi and mentor, Rabbi Haskel Besser, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 87 and was buried in Jerualem.

He

was one of the last great Rabbinic leaders of the 20th century. Besser was a GIANT, subject of book Rabbi of 84th Street, was a key member of the US Commission for America’s Heritage Abroad, Chaired the Daf Yomi commission for Agudah, restarted Jewish life in Poland with Ronald S. Lauder, and was featured in the TV movie The Jews of New York (http://www.jewsofnewyork.org/) and on and on and on.

His passing is a huge loss to not just the Jewish community, but America and the world. He is being mourned across the globe – from NY to Warsaw, from LA to Jerusalem.